The Three Heroes
by PaulJoe4
Summary: What happens when Pokemon trainers grow up?
1. Prologue

Pokemon trainers are the worst. They're perfect kids that grew up to be perfect adults. Pokemon Trainers get more fame than Poke-wood movie stars. Every little kid wants to be one when they turn eleven. I know I sure did, and I almost was. But it takes six Pokemon to even be in the ranks of a common "Pokemon Master" and people don't realize how expensive it can be to feed six Pokemon, let alone one. When you're on a nomadic quest across the country, there's no way to make money.

You usually have to stay in a city for a while to hold down a job long enough to get a paycheck or two and then move on. That's where most trainers stop being trainers and enter the real world. They get too exhausted training their Pokemon and finally settle down or return home. Those that are able to focus on training and go through with their Masters usually come from money. That money usually comes from two of the highest-paying occupations. Scientists and Gym Leaders. That's why most Gyms are family-run, the offspring are the only ones able to afford the whole journey.

That's another thing. I've never understood "the journey." It's some strange cultural phenomenon that's been around for ages that says "your eleven now, time to become a man and go on this life-altering journey without your parents!" But we're told it's okay because we're usually sent in groups of multiple children with guardian (wild) Pokemon. And public television kept drilling the idea into our head that we'd get to choose from the state-regulation Pokemon: Squirtle, Charmander, or Bulbasaur. I was dead-set on getting a Charmander so that once it was fully evolved I would fly Charizard to the school house and burn it down and Ms Finkle with it. But state regulation Pokemon was too expensive to keep buying and breeding from a Pokemon that's nearly extinct in the wild. Instead we got different, state-APPROVED Pokemon.


	2. Chapter 1 - Our Beginning

It was the big day. My tired little eyes found a way to stay wide open all the way to Mr Wilkins' museum. Mr Wilkins wasn't a professor, which confused me as an eleven-year-old, since all the video logs I watched showed that lead scientists, or Professors, were the ones you'd go to to start your journey. But our little city didn't have a Laboratory anywhere near. Instead, we went to the Museum that Mr Wilkins ran. Mr Wilkins used to be an adventurer when he was younger and more youthful, but has since retired. He explored ruins -my favorite story was of him running into a sentence of Unowns-, finding artifacts of historical value, and made a lot of connections with a lot of powerful people. This is how he became a predominant community member, and how he was able to get state-approved Pokemon for the new batch of kids.

As me and my mom were walking up the path to the museum, we ran into Cissy. Cissy was the girl that every little boy in my town wanted. She had the perfect head of long, red hair, the most up-to-date clothing, and always used her charm on the boys.

"Hey, Tonya!" My mom said to hers.

"Good morning, Jill!" replied her mom, and from their I never knew what they went on to talk about. I was too distracted by Cissy, whose smile seemed to be a little wider than normal this morning.

"Hi, Mick!" She said to me.

"Hey."

"Are you ready?" She asked.

"I think so."

"I can't wait! I heard Walt saying his dad got us rare Pokemon from different regions. Just because we're friends with him!"

And that's when I came to a moment of realization. I'm about to leave my hometown that I grew up in the past eleven years and I'm getting my first Pokemon to train and become life-long friends with.

We approached the large museum that cast a shadow on the rest of my hometown. Outside on the steps Walt Wilkins was waiting. He had all-new gear on, ready to go on his adventure. I looked down at my new shoes that seemed to stand out against my favorite old t-shirt, grass-stained jeans and my dad's old hand-me-down backpack.

Walt was a humble kid. He didn't let his money show in his personality, only his material possessions. He was a nice guy that always seemed to be helping someone out. Everybody always thought him and Cissy would wind up together. It was fate.

"Cissy! Mick!" Walt waved us down. "Come on! My dad's setting everything up for us!"

Walt and Cissy ran in. I followed after.

As me and Cissy's moms were filling out paperwork in his office, Mr Wilkins had us in one of the main halls of his museum. All three of us were lined up in a row. We stood there, watching the suave Mr Wilkins pace back and forth, lecturing us on our adventure we were about to go on. The importance of this journey. The dedication the journey would take. He even brought up some of his own personal stories that I had already heard in one of his museum lectures. But everything went in one ear and out the other with all three of us. We weren't focusing on Mr Wilkins' stories. We only pretended we were. No, we were focusing on what stood behind him. Three Pokedexes (maybe a model or two old), three PokeNavs, and three Pokeballs, each one with one of our names on it.

Mr Wilkins seemed to have wrapped up his speech, as he was walking over to the table behind him. He picked up the pokedexes and handed them over to us, one-by-one.

"Now, each of these are logged in under your own name. They won't have your official license until your paperwork has been processed, but will update in a couple days. All you have to do is plug it into a PokeCenter's computer and it will do all the work from there. Do not lose or break these. They are state-issued and can take months to replace. Not to mention all the synced data will be lost."

I wound up breaking mine in the first month. Mr Wilkins then went back to the table, exciting us, only to be grabbing the PokeNavs.

"These are especially valuable, as these are PokeNavs and very expensive. I managed to call in a few favors from my friend Mr Stone and got these for you guys."

He handed the PokeNavs over to us. I hated that thing so much. It was unbelievably slow.

Mr Wilkins returned to the table. We knew there was nothing else to say. There was no more avoiding it. Mr Wilkins turned around.

"Now, usually I would find some nearby Pokemon that no beginner trainer would be able to catch and let you guys choose. But since I believe this group to be a special bunch," Walt's smile grew and his chest puffed with the first bit of pride I have ever seen leak out of him, "I found you each a specific Pokemon that I believed would suit you the best."

First, Mr Wilkins stepped up to Cissy with a Pokeball with her name on it.

"Little Cissilia. I found for you, a Pokemon that's as fast as you are quick-witted, and also just as beautiful." Mr Wilkins tossed the red and white ball in the air, allowing it to open with a flash, "I present to you, Purrloin."

A small, cat-like creature stood up on its hind legs and turned to Cissy with a look of confidence.

"Oh, it's perfect!" Cissy squatted down to pick it up.

Mr Wilkins, then, started to walk over to me. My heart started to thud against my chest, deep and hard.

"Michelangelo, you have always been a kid I'd have a hard time figuring out. You usually keep to yourself, but I know there's more to you that's begging to be let out. All you need is a little spark!" Mr Wilkins threw the ball into the air. "I introduce to you, Shinx!"

In a flash a small, blue, black, and yellow furred cat looked up at me with its golden eyes.

I stood shocked (no pun intended). Never in my short life would I have expected to own a Pokemon any better than a Rattatata, let alone anything all the way from the Sinnoh region. I was immediately in love with my new friend.

As Cissy and I were distracted with our new Pokemon, I watched Mr Wilkins walk over to his son. He put his hand on his son's shoulder. I could only make out certain words like "courage" and "leadership" over my new Shinx gnawing at my fingers and static crackling in his fur. Mr Wilkins threw the Pokeball and revealed a Litleo. All of our kittens have been our partners from that point on.


End file.
